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Being a Responsible Pet Parent: Man’s Best Friend

Being a Responsible Pet Parent: Man’s Best Friend

5 years ago

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Photograph by Esther Kim

By Janice Eck

Photograph by Esther Kim

(Hesperia)–The Hesperia Animal Shelter is one of 50 shelters across the nation competing in the ASPCA/Rachel Ray 100K Challenge. With $600,000 in grants including a $100,000 grand prize, Hesperia Animal Shelter is working hard to adopt out 100 pets a week through August. Most of the pets available for adoption are dogs and cats. Some are young and some are old and there are major differences in caring for either. In Being a Responsible Pet Parent Series, we will discuss which pet may be right for you and how to help keep your pets safe in the High Desert.

Dogs are Man’s Best Friend. Dogs could easily become the most loyal companions you will ever have in your life if given the chance. They love you no matter what mood you are in. They forgive you of any wrong doing in the very next moment. They long to be your greatest friend for the rest of their lives. They rely on you, their pet parent, to bring out the absolute best in them. There are so many dogs stranded in the backyards of their homes knowing to protect where they live, but not really knowing who they are protecting. Dogs need companionship and a great way to build that bond is through training.

Suzanne Edson, Hesperia Animal Control Supervisor, talks about the benefits of training Fido in an interview with High Desert Daily, “If you’re getting a bigger dog, I recommend this for little dogs too, you’ll want to take them to dog training. Because you’re going to learn why your dog does some of the behaviors you don’t it to do. It’s very educational for you and you’re going to learn a little bit more about how your dog thinks so that you can react better and teach him proper behaviors. What’s going to happen if you throw him in the backyard and he’s bored? He’s going to cause trouble, he’s going to bark because he’s frustrated and people are going to complain and you’re going to be upset because you don’t have a dog that behaves like you want it to.”

Behavioral problems are common reasons why people get rid of their dogs, but with training, you will have a better understanding of how to deal with the problem and that means one less dog in the shelter.